Lessons from our neighbor, Kinston

Sunday

Feb 12, 2017 at 3:56 AMFeb 13, 2017 at 1:41 PM

We visited Kinston’s Vernon Park Mall recently and wandered the vastness of its well-maintained, abandoned hallways.

Just three storefronts remained open and one, Belk, turned its back on the mall, locking its doors to the interior and pretending it is a standalone store. Inside, amid posters advertising “Gilmore Girls” (the original TV show, which ended its run after the 2007 season) and 4G cellular data service, just a lonely barbershop and a DMV office remained open. One other store, a small variety store with a sparse selection of merchandise, seemed to be on the fencepost between opened and closed — its steel security door was partially closed and no one was inside.

It is possible that on some days the biggest selling products at the mall are sodas from the vending machine near the DMV counter.

A DMV clerk remembers when the mall was full, and pointed at an empty corner unit. “That was a Chick-fil-A,” she said. There was a food court, a Sears, and lots more.

It was a chilly day that day, and almost as chilly inside, as if mall management had turned down the heat. But the plants were alive and green, the floors mopped and polished, and all the windows sparkled behind “For Rent” signs and reminders that the whole mall was under video surveillance.

Outside, stores on outparcels were nearly as vacant, and Kinston has very nearly reached the point where it must say it used to have a great mall, one that attracted shoppers from all over.

It’s no secret that malls are struggling in today’s economy. Most of the businesses that were at Vernon Park Mall are still in Kinston; they simply relocated in and around U.S. 70, today Kinston’s busiest artery, and in and around Kinston Plaza Shopping Center off oddly spelled Herritage Street.

Not far away, at the forever fledgling Global Transpark, the abandoned air passenger terminal with its parking lot overgrowing with weeds, is a reminder of something Kinston once had: a great airport, one that served travelers from all over.

U.S. 70, future Interstate 42, brings customers to Kinston but also makes it an easy drive for Kinston residents to get to other airports and shopping destinations — a mixed blessing.

Lots of things have contributed to Kinston’s demise. Tobacco is no longer king. Hurricanes and floods took out large swaths of the city. Neighboring cities rose in prominence. Some people are working hard to bring Kinston back; who would have predicted Downtown Kinston would attract foodies?

New Bern and Kinston have traded dominance over each other several times over the course of their existence.

New Bern has its own lessons since its founding in 1710. For now it’s riding high, but to stay there it needs careful nurturing and wise decisions by city leaders. Improvements at Lawson Creek Park are examples of good choices.

Putting parking meters downtown is an example of a poor choice.

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